Art Specialties

The Ghent Altarpiece has been deemed the single most stolen piece of artwork in history. It has been the object of criminals for centuries and has been stolen thirteen times in a period of 600 years. Most notably was the seizing of the altarpiece by Nazis, during World War II; where they hid the artwork in a salt mine until the end of the war. However, there’s no need to steal this great piece of “early northern renaissance art” as it is available for the world’s eye, thanks to a new open source website.

If you’re unable to travel to Saint Bravo Cathedral in Ghent, Belgium, where the altarpiece is housed, then just visit the site Closer to Van Eyck: Rediscovering the Ghent Altarpiece, for an up close and even x-ray perspective. The Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage, Vrije University Brussel, Getty Foundation, and Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research have all banned together in order to digitize all twelve inner panels of the polyptych. Their efforts took over 9 months to complete.

Now you can visit this open source site and view the 12 panels in high definition. The project used macrophotography and X-radiography which allows us viewers to see beneath the panel surfaces and view the original drawings and sketches underneath. 

One of the greatest benefits for allowing the world access to scrutinize the painting and it’s under drawings, is that scholars and art historians can study the piece in their homes and help other scholars and researchers determine whether or not the altarpiece’s acclaimed painter, Hubert van Eyck, received help from his older brother, Jan van Eyck. Now, we are able to view the underneath sketches and brush strokes and identify them with one artist or the other. 

If you’re interested in viewing the panels for yourself see here.

When Johnson Curtis moved his family from Minnesota to Seattle in 1887, Washington state must have seemed to them, the epitome of the wild west. His sons, Edward and Asahel quickly found the region and the surrounding landscapes to be the perfect subjects for their growing interest in photography.

Although Edward Curtis became a famous photographer (much for his works focus on the Native American life and culture) his brother Asahel, remained lesser known. However, a collection of Asahel’s pictures, featuring the many landscapes of Washington state was recently released to the public by Washington State Archives and provide viewers an interesting look into the regions wilderness and the process of photography in the early 20th century. 

In 1911, Asahel began his own studio and shot typical commercial photos like Seattle buildings, the city’s development, and visiting officials. In the 1920’s, Asahel was commissioned by the Washington state Department of Conservation and Development. he shot about two hundred photos of Seattle’s surrounding regions in order to promote the state as a place for tourists and future immigrants. What’s really great about his photos is the process he used. Hand colored lantern slides were a common yet expensive style of photography in the early 20th century that produced a color picture. 

Asahel would take a picture on a hand sized glass slide and (probably like most photographers) send it to a company in New York. Here a group of artists would take the glass slides and project them onto a wall, where they would then color in the original black and white photo according to Asahel’s instruction. They would then send the original black and white and new color photo back to Asahel. The resulting color pictures are extremely captivating as the colors are vivid and it’s almost as if we’re looking at an abstract painting instead of a photo.

Sometimes its not that hard to understand why some books have been banned throughout history. The Adventures of Huckleberry Fin had offensive and crude language, James Joyce’s Ulysses was sexually inappropriate, and Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita plot included sexual relations with a twelve year old boy. However, there are some  formerly banned books throughout recent history which come as more of a shock and beg the question “why”?

Green Eggs and Ham: Dr. Seuss, 1960

From 1965 through 1991, this sweet children’s rhyme was banned to readers in the People’s Republic of China due to its “portrayal of early Marxism”. The ban was not lifted until after Seuss’s death.

Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland: Lewis Carrol, 1865

Personally I think the 1951 cartoon movie of this should be banned for its frightening content. But all jokes aside, a province in China in 1931 banned all Lewis Carroll stories as they depicted “anthropomorphised” animals who acted like humans. The adults of this province didn’t want their kids treating animals on the same level as people. I wonder if this province also banned Animal Farm?

Animal Farm: George Orwell, 1945

Big surprise here, not. When Orwell first published Animal Farm in 1945, it was immediately banned throughout America for being too critical of Russia. Funny. I bet this wouldn’t have been an issue ten years later. In 2002, the book was banned in the United Arab Emirates because its depictions of talking pigs was against Islamic values. 

The Diary of Anne Frank, 1947

So it’s not that surprising that this was banned in Lebanon for its “portrayal of Jews” in a favorable light. Yikes. Weirder yet, it was recently banned in 2010 in a Virginia school because it was too “sexually explicit” and included “homosexual themes”.

The Dictionary

That’s right, the Dictionary was banned in 2010 in a California elementary school due to its inappropriate definition of “oral sex”.

Over the past 30 years, art in China has gone through a dramatic evolution. Artists who newly discovered their freedom of expression after the Cultural Revolution and the death of Mao Zedong have made way for a new generation that has grown up in a very different China. This newer generation of artists, born after 1976, has been raised in a China that follows a free-market economy, practices open-door policy, and welcomes western influences like McDonald’s and Gucci. 

The artwork of these younger artists is creative and unusual and entirely unique from their predecessors. As the Cultural Revolution clamped down on any those wanting to distinguish themselves as an individual, artwork from this era was homogeneous and reflected the propaganda and narrative of Mao Zedong Thought, not of the artist himself.

Now, Chinese people in their twenties and thirties, utilizing the free market, are expressing themselves and selling their works around the world. Most of the pieces draw away from stereotypical “Chineseness” and artists look to incorporate the styles and techniques of global artists. The goal of many contemporary artists is to be heterogeneous. They are not grappling with the challenges of re-creating life post-revolution like older artists. This generation of artists deals with the materialism that now dominants China and the rest of the world. Also, younger artists tend to steer clear of making political statements with their works. Although the contemporary crowd supports older artists like Ai Weiwei and respect their desires to confront touchy political issues in the Chinese government, they have seen the path this can lead to (imprisonment) and are hesitant to follow the same course. 

But because the newest generation of Chinese artists were raised in a China that embraces materialism and open door policies, don’t call them superficial. In fact, this generation is diverse and in their art and philosophies and promise to continue captivating art lovers around the world with their broad display of subjects.